Angel Wings
by Draka Dracula
Summary: Rob has a secret that even the Orbots don't know! Every year, Rob goes off to another planet for a couple of days. The Orbots finally find out why.


Angel Wings

**Angel Wings**

**By: Jo Ann/PinkuOrbot**

--

This was my entry in the Fanlib contest, Wings to Fly (Same contest that Julieanne Dreamer entered with "A Pair of Wings". She won. :D ). The original was a short one-shot. This one is longer, and is chaptered.)

--

Disclaimer: _Mighty Orbots_ and its characters and places belongs to TMS Entertainment.

**Chapter 1: Rob's Secret**

Rob Simmons checked his calculations twice more before coming to the undeniable conclusion. It was _that _time of the year again.

Rob sighed to himself. Rondu knew what it was, but the Orbots did not. .Sighing again, Rob vidphoned Rondu.

"Yes, Rob?" the elfin man asked when the connection was made.

"It's that time again, Rondu," Rob simply said.

"How long will you be away?" the Elvadorian man asked.

"At least two days," the blond youth replied.

"Very well, Rob," Rondu nodded. "Take care of yourself."

"I will," Rob assured him with a smile.

--

The next morning, Rob prepared to leave the planet for his personal sanctuary. Just before he lifted off, he gave some last-minute instructions to the Orbots.

"I'll only be gone for a couple of days," he said. "Stay out of the lab, and if you get a call, do what you can without me."

"We will," Oh-No promised.

"Okay," Rob smiled back. "I guess that's it. See you guys in two days." He hopped into the Beam Car.

"Bye, Rob!" the Orbots called as the light craft lifted off and left for parts unknown.

"Have you guys ever wondered where Rob goes at this time of the year?" Bo asked as soon as the small ship was out of sight.

"Yeah," Tor replied. "Where _does _he go every year?"

"Have you noticed, too," Boo added, "that it's always the same two days of the year?"

"Why don't we find out?" the orange Orbot suggested.

"I don't know…" Oh-No said doubtfully. "Rob never allowed us to go before. It seems to be something that he wants to keep private."

"But what if he's in trouble?" Bort put in. "He could need help!"

"Let's go, then!" Tor exclaimed. Soon, the Orbots were soaring into space --Oh-No in a ship formed by Bort—and heading in the direction Rob had gone.

--

Rob had landed on an uninhabited planet, just as night had fallen. Stripping to the waist, he walked over to a grassy spot on a plain that ended at a cliff. Below was a canyon with a river running through it. Rob dropped to his knees in the soft grass, knowing that there was going to be a long wait ahead of him.

--

The Orbots landed nearby after finally catching up with Rob. They watched him, puzzled at what Rob was doing.

"What's he doing?" Bo asked.

"He looks like he's waiting for something…" Boo added.

"Then we'll have to wait, too," Tor whispered.

The Orbots prepared to watch and wait with their leader, unsure of what was going on.

--

It happened at midnight. Rob could feel the first of the intense agony as the appendages grew on his back. Rob screamed his pain to the empty sky.

Alarmed, the Orbots rushed from their hiding place, only to stop within a few feet of their creator. They stared in shock at what they saw.

Sprouting from Rob's shoulders were a pair of large, white wings, like those the Orbots had seen in pictures and statues of angels!

Finally, the wings were fully sprouted, and the pain ceased. Rob looked up and saw the Orbots. Slowly, he stood up.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"We followed the signal from the Beamcar," Oh-No answered. "We were worried about you."

"Rob," Boo looked horrified, "how is this possible?"

"It's been happening every year on this day, ever since I was twelve. The wings grow at midnight, and will disappear at midnight tomorrow night."

"But why?" Bo asked.

"No one in my family knows why it happens, just that it happens, so I've never found out why, myself. There is one theory, however…"

"What's that?" Tor asked.

"It's my grandmother's theory, mind you, but she claims that an ancestor of mine was blessed –or cursed—with wings that would grow and fade one day a year. It would bring both great pain and great joy. Well, you saw the 'great pain'…"

"And the 'great joy'?" Bo asked.

"I'm fully capable of flight!" he grinned. Then, he said, "Come fly with me, Orbots!"

"What…?!" the Orbots gasped.

"Come fly with me," he repeated. "For once, I can join you in flight the way _you _do. Come on!" he finished with a laugh, running and jumping off the cliff.

The Orbots gasped in horror, sure that he would fall to his death. In the next moment, however, he was soaring above them.

"Come on!" he laughed again. The Orbots took one look at each other, then leapt into the sky. Oh-No joined them in the Beamcar. Soon, the entire team was flying and laughing with their leader as they playing in the blue that covered the planet.

Rob flew up to Boo and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Tag!" he grinned. "You're it, Boo!" Before she could move, he flew off into the clouds.

"Ha!" she laughed. "You picked the _wrong _Orbot to tag, Rob!" The fastest Orbot followed him, leaving the others to play "catch up".

Boo caught up with Rob fairly quickly, and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to face her, a large grin on his face. She smiled back at him.

"Tag!" she laughed.

"Very nice, Boo!" he laughed back. When the Orbots finally joined them, he added, "I'm getting hungry. Follow me, Orbots!" Their young leader dived down toward an orchard loaded with strange, reddish fruit.

As Rob flew through the trees, he plucked a few of the apple-sized fruit. Landing in a clearing, with the Orbots landing around him, Rob showed them his prizes.

The fruit looked like giant strawberries, being the same shape as well as the same color, and covered with tiny, brown and white seeds. Smiling, Rob bit into one of the strawberry-apples and tasted the same sweetness that he got from a bowl of strawberries.

After his meal, Rob and the Orbots resumed their playing in the sky.

--

Night had fallen once again, and Rob kneeled in his place once more. The Orbots surrounded him, knowing what was to come, but knowing that could do nothing to help him. Instead, they talked the time away.

As midnight came, the pain hit Rob once again. Screaming and clawing at the ground in his personal torture as the wings retracted into his body. After what seemed like an eternity, it was over. The wounds from which the wings had grown closed over into scars that would heal in a couple of weeks. He panted, trying to get his breath back. He was vaguely aware that Bo and Boo were holding him.

"Are you okay, Rob?" Tor asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Rob gasped. "I'm okay." He gulped in more air, and then said, "Let's go home."

--

The next morning, the Orbots brought him breakfast in bed. They were happy to have their beloved "father" back, though a little disturbed by what had happened to him.

"It was good flying with you guys," Rob said as he took a bite of syrup-drenched pancake.

"We enjoyed it, too," Boo said. "I just wish you didn't have to go through all that pain."

"I know," he replied. "So do I."

"Rob…" Oh-No said. "What if it ever becomes permanent? What if the wings never go away? What, then?"

Rob frowned. He had never thought about the wings becoming a permanent part of him. Would that even happen?

And, if it did, what would he do?

--

Next: Chapter 2: Angel Story


End file.
